A methodological framework for estimating loss of employment opportunities resulting from abandoned shopping centre development project
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Date
2020
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Abstract
Assessing the loss of employment opportunities due to abandoned shopping centre project development is an important task in order to estimate the loss incurred by the community. The objective of the development is to bring about positive impacts to the community through the generation of employment and income. These two are significant indicators of the community's economic well-being as they are critically needed through the construction of a shopping centre. When the development of a shopping centre project is abandoned, employment opportunities were lost, and these detract from the quality of life as well as the economic opportunities of those living in the surrounding area of the project. Although there were a series of research stating that the loss of employment opportunities is one of the impacts of an abandoned shopping centre development project, the loss was not assessed explicitly and further, there was no literature explaining the method of assessment. Therefore, this study attempted to develop a methodological framework for assessing loss of employment opportunities through an economic approach. The theoretical perspective composed of a few significant variables that must be considered in the assessment and they reflected the determinants of loss of employment opportunities. The operationalization of these determinants was conducted in stages; each determinant represented each stage. There were four steps in measuring the loss of employment opportunities namely (1) calculating employment-generating potential by applying a grounded theory method (GTM); (2) analyzing potential workers' catchment area; (3) analyzing market competition of retail supply; and (4) analyzing workplace preference using a combination of two analyses i.e. Rating-based Conjoint Analysis (RBCA) and Productivity Analysis (PA). The combination of these four steps formed the methodological framework in estimating the loss of employment opportunities in this study. This framework was tested by subjecting the estimated loss of employment opportunities to the real case situation of the Subject Property. The study discovered that the ideal tenant mix for a shopping centre was made-up of twenty-one components of tenant-mix classes comprising a variety of compatible retail/service providers, and each tenant mix class has a different size of employee density. This study proposed an average of 22 sq.m. of space per employee for estimating the employee density of a shopping centre. Therefore, with the medium-size gross floor area (GFA) of 370,000 sq.ft. (34,374 sq.m.) of the Subject Property, while considering other competing shopping centres and the local market situation, as many as 1,590 potential employment opportunities could have been lost due to the abandoned shopping centre. This study contributed to the new knowledge and experience in the real estate field, particularly in the aspect of employment density of retail properties.
Description
Thesis (PhD. (Real Estate))
Keywords
Employment forecasting--Malaysia, Construction projects, Abandoned buildings